Stubborn
by Kiiam
Summary: Boyd and Marcia are really stubborn and they're always fighting. Getting sick of it, Mia and Ike solve it in their own way. Takes place in FE9. First Boyd/Marcia fic ever. Read and Review.


Mario looked around with a slightly nervous expression on his face

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

A/N: This is another pairing I like. I can see it happening, as they both are pretty stubborn. They make a good couple, in my opinion. Hopefully, after reading this, you will think so too. Enjoy.

**Stubborn**

It was about a little past noon. Most of Ike's mercenary crew had decided to rest in their rooms for the day, considering they had taken on a job given to them by the Apostle of Begnion early that morning. Ike's group had sailed to Begnion on a boat to ask for the Apostle's help in aiding Crimea. Elincia had negotiated with the Apostle, and the young child of a ruler had agreed to help if the mercenaries agreed to take a few jobs for her. The Greil mercenaries, and some other people Ike had recruited on his travels, were all staying in the luxurious capital of Begnion, Sienne, until the Apostle agreed to help them. Everyone enjoyed the good food and comfortable rooms. There were fields to practice and spar in, and people were able to relax. The humongous building was peaceful, quiet, tranquil, and-

"No! You're wrong!"

"And you think you're right?"

Mia groaned as she glanced at her companions from where she was sitting in the mess hall. The swordmistress had worked up quite an appetite after having her afternoon practice session with her "sparring buddy" and decided to get a snack. She had been none to pleased when she saw Boyd and Marcia fighting with each other, again.

Both of these two were friends, good ones at that. They worked well together on the battlefield, Boyd making up for Marcia's lack of power, and Marcia making up for his lack of defense and evasiveness. The two worked together like a well-oiled machine. But, when off the battlefield, the two had one trait that always put them in some sort of argument.

They were both _very _stubborn.

No matter what they were talking about, they always managed to find something to argue about. Sometimes it was about what one of them did, how they did something, or just a disagreement about something they each saw in a different way. The arguments would not stop until one of them thought they had won.

This was rare. Mia knew that both were so stubborn, that they would never admit that the other was right and that they were wrong. It would usually end with both of them getting very frustrated and both ending the argument at the exact same time, storming away from each other only to pick up a different argument an hour or two later.

"What!?" Boyd yelled indignantly. "Say that again! I dare you!"

"What I'm sorry, I don't speak stupid!" Marcia retorted, sticking her tongue out at the warrior.

"Why you-"

"I can't hear you- lalalalalalalalalala!" Marcia chanted covering her ears. Mia winced at both their loud, obnoxious voices.

"They're at it again?"

Mia turned her head and smiled slightly at who had addressed her. Her sparring buddy, Ike, stood there with a plate of food in his hand. He sat down next to his mercenary companion.

"Yeah." Mia sighed. "What are you doing here?"

"Do I need a reason to be here?" Ike asked, biting into a chicken wing. "I'm famished after that match. You've gotten better."

"Thanks! You gave me a good workout too." Mia smiled. "We should make it our goal to get each other hungry after each match!'

"Ha…sure." Ike frowned as Boyd's yelling became louder. He glared in the direction of his two bickering friends. "Seriously, they're acting like little kids."

"I know." Mia agreed, rolling her eyes. "I mean, they get along so well on the battlefield, but they're always arguing in camp. It's really starting to get on my nerves."

"These arguments are more pointless than when Rolf is the one arguing with Boyd." Ike added. "And I thought I had trouble making those two get along before…"

"Marcia is more stubborn. That's why it's worse." Mia nodded. "They've both got thick heads. They both hate losing an argument."

"Yeah."

"Ugh! I can't believe you!" Marcia screamed.

"Yeah? Well I'm sick of listening to your stupid voice." Boyd snorted. "I'm outta here." He turned and stormed off with an angry expression on his face.

"Oh…oh yeah?" Marcia called after him. "Well I'm sick of looking at your ugly face!" She paused not knowing if he heard her or not. She frowned and started to walk away. "Oh, crackers…"

Mia and Ike watched the two separate, relieved that the fighting was finally over. Ike sighed and took a sip of his water.

"When are those two gonna realize that they're in love with each other." Ike chuckled.

"Yeah." Mia giggled. "When are they gonna…" The woman trailed off. Her eyes widened.

"THAT'S IT!" Mia exclaimed. Ike spat out his drink in surprise. He coughed and sputtered, trying to get the rest of the water down. He glared at Mia.

"What's 'it'?" Ike asked.

"Boss! I just had the best idea!" Mia grabbed his hand and hauled him out of his seat, pulling him away despite his protests.

"Hey! Mia! What are you doing?" Ike asked as he was pulled along. Mia ran down the hall and pulled him into her room. She pushed him down on a seat. She pulled up her own chair and sat in front of him with an eager expression on her face.

"I figured out how we can get those two to stop fighting!" Mia shouted happily.

"Really." Ike said arching an eyebrow. "I seriously doubt that."

"No, it's the perfect plan!" Mia insisted. "And you're gonna help me."

"Um…what?"

"Here's my plan." Mia smiled. "We…are going to get those two together!"

Complete silence. Mia smiled and nodded at the brilliance of her plan. Ike looked at her like she was crazy.

"…get together…"

"Yep!"

"…as in go out…"

"Yep!"

"…Boyd and Marcia…boyfriend and girlfriend…"

"Yep!"

"…Us…play matchmaker…

"Yep!"

"You don't see anything wrong with this, do you?" Ike sighed.

"Nope." Mia smiled. "Just think about it for a minute, boss. Those two are fighting all the time, right? But they work so well together on the battlefield. We just need to find one thing to push them together. Basically, we need to find a way to make them get along here the same way the do on the battlefield."

"I was joking around when I said that they were in love!" Ike almost yelled.

"Maybe you were, but it's also true!" Mia argued.

"And why should I help you with this crazy scheme?" Ike asked.

"Because I know you hate hearing them fight all the time just as much as me, or anyone else in this camp for that matter." Mia said, poking his nose. "It's to help better our living conditions, and I need you for my plan to work."

"Mia…" Ike whined, not really wanting to be apart of this. The idea of matchmaking didn't sound very appealing to him. Wasn't it supposed to be a girl thing anyway?

"C'mon, please?" Mia pouted. "You're my friend, right?"

"Fine, fine." Ike grumbled. When he thought about it, it might be interesting to see those two actually hook up. He had nothing better to do anyway…

"Great!" Mia chirped. She leaned down, pulling Ike's head down with her. She spoke in a whispering voice. "So here's what we'll do…"

X.X.X

"Man! Why does she have to be like that?" Boyd yelled, throwing his hand axe into a nearby tree with enough force for the axe to go almost halfway through it. He thought coming out here and practice his axe throwing would help work off some stress, but he still felt angry. Boyd grumbled as he walked over to retrieve his axe.

"Hey, Boyd."

The mentioned turned to see Ike standing behind him. The successor of the Greil mercenaries looked at his friend with a bored expression on his face.

"What's up, Ike?" Boyd smiled, his mood completely changing. "What are you doing here? Waiting for Mia or something? You guys gonna spar again?"

"Actually, the Apostle called me over to have a meeting with her." Ike replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I heard you yelling, so I came to ask what's the matter with you." Inside his mind, Ike mentally rolled his eyes. As if he didn't know who Boyd was mad at.

"Well, if you really want to know…it's Marcia." Boyd said quietly. Ike nodded understandingly and knowingly. "She's always arguing with me about stuff I do, how I fight, what I like, how I do things…and it really pisses me off!"

"You guys seem to get along great on the battlefield." Ike said. "I can see you two working together and encouraging each other out there, so why is it so different when we're not fighting?"

"I'm not really sure." Boyd said scratching his head. "We always get into fights for some reason, and she's always wrong, but she says she's right! It just makes me mad how she argues with me all the time and I guess that's why we don't get along well here. I guess in battle, we don't really have anything to fight about. I'd do anything to help her if I could."

"Huh." Ike nodded, thinking over what Boyd just told him.

"Ah, well, why am I telling this to you?" Boyd smirked. "Go have your meeting with the Apostle so we can get some help with retaking Crimea."

"Right. See ya." Ike smiled as he bid his friend a brief farewell. Ike walked through the halls towards the Apostle's throne room.

X.X.X

"Stupid Boyd." Marcia mumbled into her pillow. "Why are you so stupid…"

"Knock, knock!" Came a voice from outside her room. Marcia walked over to the door and opened it. Mia stood at in front of her with a smile on her face.

"Hi Mia." Marcia smiled, happy to see her friend. "What brings you to my room?"

"Nothing. I saw you fighting with Boyd." Mia explained. "You looked mad, so your good friend Mia came to cheer you up!"

"Come on in." Marcia smiled, stepping aside so Mia could get in. The pegasus knight closed the door behind her.

"So what did you guys argue about this time?" Mia asked, sitting down on Marcia's bed. Marcia sat down beside her.

"I don't remember." Marcia groaned. "Probably something stupid again. Sometimes I don't even know why we fight."

"Why do you?" Mia asked. "You guys are always backing each other up when we're fighting and stuff, so why do you guys argue all the time?"

"It's just…I…he…I don't know." Marcia sighed. "He's just so stupid…"

"Why do you think he's stupid?" Mia asked.

"He just is!" Marcia insisted. "He never listens to me, he never pays any attention to me, he always fighting with me, he's just stupid!"

"But that doesn't explain why you-"

"I LIKE HIM, ALRIGHT?!" Marcia screamed. She covered her mouth with her hands, blushing as she realized what she just said. Curse her anger for taking control of her! Mia just stared at her friend with her mouth agape.

"You…you what?" Mia said in astonishment.

"Mia, promise you won't tell anyone!" Marcia pleaded.

"So you DO like him." Mia smiled. Marcia nodded hesitantly.

Inside her mind, Mia was jumping for joy. If Marcia already liked Boyd, this was going to be a whole lot easier. If Ike did his job and got Boyd to say something that she could work with, she could get them together in no time!

"When did you start liking him?" Mia asked.

"I guess after getting to know him a bit on the battlefield." Marcia sighed. "He's a really nice guy. He protects me, helps me, fights with me, encourages me when I need it, but whenever I try to talk to him here, it turns into an argument."

"Why don't you try talking to him like you would on the battlefield?" Mia suggested.

"Have you ever liked someone, Mia?" Marcia asked the girl.

"…No…" Mia said slowly. She had never actually LIKED someone before.

"Then you wouldn't understand." Marcia said. "It's just, when you talk to a person you like, sometimes you can't find the right things to say. Instead, you insult him or scold him to get him to notice you. I guess that's why we get into arguments so much when we aren't on a mission. On the battlefield, I'm focused on fighting, not my feelings, so it's easier to talk with him."

Mia nodded, thinking over all of this in her head. She felt a little insulted when Marcia had said that she "wouldn't understand" just because she didn't like someone. But it was true, she didn't know what loving someone was like. She supposed that it made sense that she wouldn't understand. She broke away from her thoughts when Marcia talked to her again.

"Thanks for listening to me, Mia." Marcia smiled. "I feel a little better now that I got that off my chest."

"No problem." Mia smiled. She made her way towards the door. She turned back towards Marcia just before she opened it. "If you want my advice, when you see a chance, you should just go for it. The greatest opportunities are usually right in front of you, but you have to have the guts to make a move."

"What?" Marcia asked, confused. Mia was already out the door.

Mia ran down the halls with a mischievous smile on her face. This was perfect! A plan was already formulating in her head, she just needed to find Ike and get his information on Boyd. Mia mentally patted herself on the back. She was a genius.

X.X.X

"Okay, ready? Let's go!" Ike shouted to his crew. Everyone raised their weapons and charged through the sands…slowly…

The Apostle's mission for him and his group this time was to investigate some ruins in Grann Desert that was supposedly a base for thieves. Ike had been surprised when a small boy and a laguz had greeted them when they arrived. He was even more surprised when two dozen more laguz came out of nowhere and engaged them in battle. They'd have to fight them, then ask the questions the apostle had for them.

It wasn't going well. Soren, Ilyana, Rhys, Marcia, Jill, and Sothe had an easy time running through the sand. He and the rest of the crew had a harder time. Gatrie was almost sinking. In hindsight, maybe it wasn't the best of ideas to bring Gatrie into a desert.

"Boss!"

Ike sighed. He had almost forgotten. Mia had met up with him before they came to the desert and told him her plan. He turned to see his friend running towards him with Rolf close behind. The small archer was part of their plan.

"Hey Mia. Rolf." Ike greeted as they stopped in front of them.

"Mia said you wanted to see me?" Rolf asked with a smile on his face. He was always eager to show his usefulness in battle.

"Where are they?" Mia asked as she looked around.

"Over there." Ike said pointing behind him.

They walked forward a bit to see Boyd and Marcia fighting against two laguz. Boyd was fighting a tiger while Marcia was fending off a hawk. The trio crept up behind a dune so the combatants wouldn't notice them.

"Okay Rolf." Ike said turning to Boyd and Oscar's younger brother. "You see that hawk laguz Marcia is fighting?"

"Yes."

"Shoot it down."

"Huh?" Rolf looked at him in astonishment. "B-But Ike! Marcia is right in front of that hawk! If I mess up, the arrow might hit her!"

"We need to surprise it." Ike insisted. "Come on. Marcia is your friend, right? You should help her."

"O-Okay." Rolf nodded. He took a arrow and aimed at the bird. He shot the arrow.

Unfortunately, Marcia had flown directly into the arrow's path. It was going to hit her.

"Marcia! Look out!" Mia shouted.

The girl turned to see an arrow coming towards her. Surprised, Marcia jerked her pegasus to the side. The arrow shot past her face and into the chest of the bird laguz. The giant hawk plummeted to the ground.

Marcia, unsuspecting to be shot at with an arrow when fighting laguz, lost her balance with her quick maneuver to avoid the shot and fell to the ground. She screamed as she fell towards the ground below.

"Marcia!" Boyd shouted as he watched her fall. He had just finished off his enemy and saw the girl fall off her flying steed. He ran under her with his arms outstretched. The girl fell on top of him, making the sand kick up as the both hit the sand.

"I-I'm okay?" Marcia said in disbelief. "How?"

"Get off me…"

She then noticed she was sitting on something hard, not soft like the sand should be. She crawled off Boyd and helped him up. Sand fell from his clothes and hair.

"Ow…" Boyd grumbled as he rubbed his back.

"Oh, crackers! I'm sorry Boyd. I don't know how I lost my balance like that!" Marcia apologized.

"It's fine." Boyd smiled. "You know I'd never let you get hurt."

Marcia blushed. She became aware of how close their faces were. Mia's words floated into her head. An opportunity was right in front of her, so…

"Thanks." Marcia mumbled. She leaned forward and kissed the warrior on the cheek. She hopped back on her mount which hand landed next to them and took off in another direction, he face redder than a tomato.

Boyd just sat there. He touched his hand to his cheek, his face slowly getting darker with each second that passed. Behind a sand dune, Ike was holding back his laughs and Mia was silently cheering. Rolf just stared at his brother with wide eyes.

"She…kissed him." Rolf said in disbelief.

X.X.X

Boyd sat on a bench in the Sienne capital garden. He thought back to what Marcia did in the desert, making his face go red again. He had left a note in her room asking her to meet him here. He hoped it had got to her.

The laguz in the desert had turned out to be former slaves of Begnion nobles. That was what the Apostle had wanted to find out. The child leader, Tormod, and his laguz guardian, Muiram, were currently having a meeting with the Apostle about laguz slavery. Boyd didn't care about that though. He just couldn't get that kiss out of his mind.

"Hi…Boyd."

The warrior turned to see Marcia standing there with a pink blush grazing her cheeks. She sat down beside him, not looking at his face.

"You wanted to talk to me?"

"Y-Yeah…"

Hidden in the bushes, two people were watching the show.

"Should we be eavesdropping like this?" Ike whispered to Mia.

"What, you think I'd pass up an opportunity to watch this? Of course I'm going to eavesdrop. It's a reward for all my hard work." Mia whispered back.

"…I helped too…"

"Ssh!"

Boyd and Marcia didn't speak. They sat there, looking at everything but each other. Boyd sighed. What the hell, he was never a patient one to begin with.

"Why did you kiss me?" Boyd asked bluntly.

"…"

"I'll ask again, why did you kiss me?"

"...I don't know…"

"You don't know."

"…No…"

"You have to have a reason for kissing me." Boyd said, trying to get an actual answer from her.

"Forget about it." Marcia sighed.

"…What?"

"Just forget about it, that kiss was a mistake." Marcia tried to get up, but Boyd grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down.

"Oh, no you don't." Boyd frowned. "I want an answer. None of that 'I don't know' crap."

"Boyd…I…"

"Why did you kiss me?"

"Boyd…stop."

"WHY DID YOU KISS ME?!" Boyd shouted.

"BECAUSE I LIKE YOU, OKAY!" Marcia shouted back, blushing as she did so. Boyd's eyes widened. Marcia looked away from him.

"…Say that again."

"I…like you."

Marcia waited for him to say something. Anything. The axe wielder remained silent. The pegasus rider felt tears gather in her eyes. He probably hated her now. They werre always fighting and out of the blue she says that she likes him? He probably thought she was an idiot. She made a move to get up.

The girl was shocked when she was suddenly twisted around and something soft was pressed against her lips. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw Boyd's face in front of her own. He was kissing her! Marcia's arms snaked around his neck and his made their way around her waist. They held each other close, as close as they could get.

They separated when the need for air became apparent to them. They looked into each other's eyes. Marcia was still surprised, Boyd was smiling.

"So…does this mean we can stop fighting now?" Boyd asked with a goofy grin on his face.

Marcia smiled as relief washed over her. "Only if you say it."

Boyd smiled knowingly. "I like you too." They both came together for another kiss.

"Don't hold me so tight."

"Then stop choking me, idiot."

In the bushes, Ike was staring at the new couple in disbelief while Mia was grinning from ear to ear. Ike's look of astonishment turned into a look of relief.

"Guess this means we won't have to hear those two fight all the time." Ike smiled.

"Told you it would all work out." Mia smiled turning towards him.

"Yep. You were right." Ike said also turning towards her.

The two froze. They suddenly realized how close their faces were to one another. Ike noticed how beautiful Mia looked as the setting sun's rays made her face look positively radiant. He saw features of her face he never noticed before. Mia was in a similar state. In this kind of light, Ike looked very…well…handsome to her. The faces were inches apart.

"W-Well I should probably get going…so…" Ike stammered, the awkwardness of the situation taking over.

"Y-Yeah! A-And I should probably help Rhys with his sword training before it gets dark…so…" Mia stuttered in embarrassment.

They both, quietly, shuffled away as to not disturb Boyd and Marcia. Both were red in the face, happy for the new couple, but embarrassed for each other. What made them sort of mad, was that they didn't know why they were so embarrassed.

X.X.X

A/N: Alright. I think I did a good job here. What do you think?

Yep. That's Boyd/Marcia for ya. I might do another one with these two if I get a good idea. Maybe, maybe not.

I couldn't help but put a little Ike/Mia in this one. I had an opportunity, so I took it. Stating my opinion, Ike/Mia is the best pairing in FE9 and FE10. If you doubt it, read my _Embarrassment before a battle _fic. Check out my other fic where the pairing is Geoffery/Sigrun. That one works great too.

Anywho, please give me a review.

Kiiam


End file.
